Fans of detective series know very well that any investigation begins with the study of fingerprints at the crime scene. And this pure truth, because fingerprinting - the study of unique patterns on the tips of human fingers - has been around for almost a century and a half cornerstone forensics.
History of the development of fingerprinting and dermatoglyphics. Interesting facts about fingerprints
This science was born, as usually happens, completely by accident. In 1879, Scottish physician Henry Faulds examined prehistoric pottery shards brought from Japan. For some reason, his attention was attracted by fingerprints left when the clay was still damp. And then it dawned on Folds:
“The pattern on the fingers does not change throughout life, which means it can serve for identification better than photography.”
The idea of the Scottish doctor was picked up and developed English psychologist and anthropologist Francis Galton.
Nature has endowed the fingertips with unique and inimitable patterns. Scientists once calculated that if you take fingerprints from all ten fingers of one person, the chance that two of them will match is 1 in 64 billion. What can we say about patterns from the fingers of different people?
I must say, fingerprinting for a long time could not take root among criminologists. Skeptics argued that the lines on the fingers are an unreliable sign, changeable over time. And to check whether the pattern on the skin changes, long-term observations of a person were needed.
Criminal without fingerprints
Fingerprinting helped, as in the proverb, chance. In 1934, during joint operation Chicago police and the FBI shot dead the famous American gangster Klutas during his arrest. Even then, the US police had good rule- fingerprint even a dead criminal to accurately determine his identity. The shot bandit... did not have any fingerprints; his skin did not contain papillary patterns. The experts were simply in despair. But FBI Director Edgar Hoover did not receive his salary in vain. On his instructions, federal agents literally searched all the doctors and found a surgeon who operated on Klutas, removing the skin from his fingertips. Ganster hoped that such an operation would give him the opportunity to carry out his dark deeds with impunity. But that was not the case.
It turned out that after plastic surgery, papillary lines are restored again, and retain their previous, individual pattern. On the young skin of the dead man’s fingers, the old, already outlined lines were now visible.
The criminal thought soon found an antidote to fingerprinting - ordinary gloves. But thieves and robbers did not know that even gloves could leave a mark... In December 1964, an alarm signal was received at the operational communications console of the Leningrad City Internal Affairs Directorate: a thief in the halls of the State Hermitage! When police arrived at the scene, they discovered that two paintings had been stolen, one of which belonged to the brush of Karl Bryulov, the author of the famous “ Last day Pompeii". Forensic experts examined literally every square centimeter crime scenes. They didn't find any fingerprints, but they did find a very clear mark from a glove on one of the display cases. During the search, those ill-fated gloves were found on the alleged criminal, which served as the main evidence. Apparently, things were bad in the USSR with haberdashery items...
Now a fingerprint card is the main and most reliable portrait of a person who dared to break the law. Handwriting analysis, verbal portrait, photos and videos, and even DNA analysis can fail. But the unique pattern on the skin will never deceive and give away the criminal, as they say, with his fingers.
But studying fingerprints is good for more than just catching criminals. By using papillary patterns on the palms, many diseases acquired by a person by inheritance can be diagnosed. Russian scientists claim that a thorough study of the patterns on the skin of the palms will easily determine the moral and volitional qualities of a person and even tell him in which profession he will be successful.
Dermatoglyphics - the science of patterns on the palms and feet of a person, broader than fingerprinting - states that patterns on the tips of the fingers appear in the womb, in the third month of development.
At the same time, the nervous and endocrine system, therefore, experts from Moscow State University suggested that papillary patterns clearly show reaction speed, quick thinking, and the ability to be a leader in society.
To finally test their hypothesis, scientists turned to the All-Russian Research Institute physical culture and sports, to the laboratory where higher sports are studied. Along with weight, height and muscle mass, this time biologists also studied patterns on the fingertips. As a result, it turned out that there is a direct connection between sports achievements and papillary patterns.
But maybe this connection is typical only for sports people? It turned out that everyone has it too ordinary people. One day, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs brought the researchers fingerprint cards of a gang of criminals, and after a short study, the specialists determined who was “on guard” and who was the leader. You should have seen the faces of the policemen, amazed at the exact conclusions.
Technology for identifying business and psychological qualities human papillary patterns has existed for several years. It is very complex, but for personnel officers it is just a godsend! An experienced specialist can use fingerprints to accurately identify a person good engineer or a wonderful translator.
How does he do this? There are 39 main types of patterns, which are divided into 4 groups: arcs, loops, curls and S-shaped patterns. For a specialist, all ten fingerprints are important; it even matters which finger the pattern is on. For example, a loop means that a person is a leader with an explosive character; if you touch him, he will burst into flames like a match. The presence of curls and s-patterns on the fingers indicates that the person will make a good substitute, the so-called gray cardinal, capable of leading from behind an explosive boss.
The head of one of the companies engaged in personnel selection claims that the accuracy of the dermatoglyphic method of personnel selection exceeds 80 percent, so do not be surprised if, instead of a work book, the prospective employer asks you to show the palms of your hands.
People who don't have papillary pattern neither on the fingers and toes, nor on the palms, there are only about two dozen in the world. The phenomenon of the absence of fingerprints was discovered 20 years ago, but the reason why a person’s fingertips can be completely smooth has only now been discovered
A group of geneticists led by Eli Sprecher, professor of dermatology at Tel Aviv University, managed to solve this mystery of nature. After all, the papillary pattern is a “biological passport”; it is unique for every person on the planet (even identical twins have different patterns on their fingertips). Scientists still have a very vague idea of why nature needed such an “identifier” at all, and how this pattern is formed. It was hypothesized that the pattern was needed to improve adhesion between the fingertips and objects, then it was replaced by the assumption that the papillary pattern reduces friction. Now scientists are inclined to believe that these curls and combs, unique to every person in the world, increase the sensitivity of the fingers. However, the fact that there are people without any hint of this very pattern has become the most important mystery for scientists.
More recently, Israeli geneticists managed to “catch” the gene responsible for such “tricks.” It turns out that two extremely rare genetic diseases - Naegeli syndrome and pigmentary reticular dermatopathy - arise due to a specific defect in one of the proteins, namely keratin-14. These congenital genetic aberrations cause the death of cells in the uppermost skin layer. As a result, people with this genetic defect are born without papillary patterns on the fingers, toes, palms and feet, reports the American Journal of Human Genetics.
According to Sprecher, “the phenomenon of adermatoglyphia (lack of papillary patterns) was discovered thanks to five families from Switzerland, all of whose members do not have these patterns. In one of these families, we studied the genetic profile of each family member over three generations. None of them had a papillary pattern. And each had a mutation in the SMARCAD1 gene. Apparently, it is this gene that influences the formation of the papillary pattern during intrauterine pregnancy. human development"New Scientist reports. In people without fingerprints, this gene mutates. The mutation leads not only to the absence of a pattern, and as a result to a lack of sensitivity in the fingertips, loss of touch, but also to other anomalies. In particular, people suffering from this disease do not have sweat glands. Also, in such patients, the skin of the palms and feet thickens, and other diseases of the dental tissue, hair and skin may develop.
For a long time, scientists believed that the patterns on our fingertips were designed to give us a stronger grip on objects. But in reality, they do not improve “grip” in any way, but rather reduce friction between the skin and the object, especially if it is smooth.
Researchers studied the friction hypothesis and found that skin behaves like rubber in this case. In fact, skin patterns on our fingers reduce our ability to grasp objects because they reduce the area of contact with the thing we are holding. So the question remains, why do we have fingerprints? The theories are: better "grip" on rough or wet surfaces, protection of fingers from damage, and increased sensitivity.
So, fingerprints are the patterns on their tips. They appear when we are in the womb and they are fully formed by the seventh month. We all have unique, individual fingerprints for life. Even twins who have identical DNA have different fingerprints.
The prints consist of patterns in the form of arcs, loops and curls that are formed in the very inner layer epidermis: layer of basal cells. The basal cells continually divide and new cells move into the layers above. The number of basal cells in the fetus grows faster than in the outer layers of the epidermis and dermis. This powerful growth causes the layer of basal cells to form many patterns, and damage to the surface layer will not change the fingerprints.
Why do some people have no fingerprints?
Dermatoglyphia refers to our individual patterns on our fingers, palms, feet and toes. The absence of these patterns is caused by a rare genetic condition called adermatoglyphia. Scientists have discovered a mutation in the SMARCAD1 gene, which is the cause of the development of this condition.
Fingerprints are fully formed by 24 weeks of gestation and do not undergo any changes throughout life, but the factors underlying the formation and structure of fingerprints during embryonic development are not yet well understood. Although there is still a certain gene that is involved in the development of patterns on the fingers, as well as the development of sweat glands.
Finger patterns and bacteria
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have demonstrated that bacteria found on skin can be used as personal identifiers because they are unique even among identical twins. And these bacteria remain on objects that a person touches. By studying the DNA of bacteria found on the surface, we can match it with the hands of the person who left these bacteria. In fact, it is an analogue of a fingerprint, very unique and capable of remaining unchanged for several weeks. Bacterial testing can be a useful tool in forensic identification when it is not possible to isolate human DNA or obtain clear fingerprints.
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30.12.2009
The mutant gene is the essence of the disease that leaves people without fingerprints. Fingerprints are used as identity markers. No two prints are the same.
However, there are people on Earth with a rare condition called adermatoglyphia, in other words, they have no fingerprints.
Doctor Eli Sprecher, dermatologist and geneticist medical center Sourasky in Tel Aviv and his staff recognized genetic mutation which leads to the development of the disease. The study was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.
A team of geneticists studied a Swiss family, a good half of whose members were carriers of adermatoglyphia and appeared without fingerprints. Their palms, toes and fingers are completely straight without a single line. When their fingerprints were taken, instead of the unique shape of concentric circles, they took even spots.
In addition, these people have significantly fewer sweat glands on their legs and arms. Researchers found mutations in the Smarcad1 gene in these people. this gene is important for many processes in the domestic body, but in this case its mutation was associated only with the skin.
Being born without fingerprints does not happen because a certain gene is turned on or off. More likely, the mutation causes copies of the gene to not work properly, says Sprecher. People have a longer version of the Smarcad1 gene, or isoform, that works in another part of the body, but this gene variation is probably not affected in those who have the problem of missing fingerprints.
During the course of the study, one of the Swiss family members experienced trouble with American immigration officials when attempting to visit the country.
